After Hong Kong and Macau both banned activities related to the commemoration of June 4, Taiwan civic groups initiated an online memorial party in Taipei on June 4, and called on Taiwan to continue the spirit of June 4 commemoration without fail. Shi Yi-xiang, Secretary General of the Taiwan Association for the Promotion of Human Rights, emphasized that the June Fourth Movement is not a turmoil, and that the June Fourth Massacre is a responsibility that the Chinese Communist Party cannot avoid in its 100th year of existence.
A number of Taiwanese civic groups, including the Chinese Academy for Democracy and the Taiwan Association for the Promotion of Human Rights, held a press conference on the 1st, announcing the holding of June 4th memorial activities in Taiwan.
The Chinese Democratic Institute’s Director of Initiatives Kuo Li-hsuan pointed out that this year, Hong Kong and Macau are prohibited from applying for commemorative activities, so that only Taiwan can commemorate June 4 in the Asian (Chinese) region, the Chinese Democratic Institute, as a partner who participated in the June 4 Incident in Hong Kong in the past, sternly condemned, but also obliged to continue the spirit of June 4 commemoration in Taiwan.
Alex Kuo: “Today, in the face of the pressure of the Covid-19 epidemic in Taiwan, we will continue to pursue China’s political responsibility for the June Fourth Incident as a country that has legally assembled. At the same time stand in solidarity with the victims of China-made human rights and more prisoners of conscience.”
June 4 is a responsibility China cannot avoid for the centenary of its founding
Shih Yat-cheung, Secretary General of the Taiwan Association for the Promotion of Human Rights, mentioned that the day before, the Tiananmen Mothers, a group of family members of the June 4 victims, defied the pressure of the Chinese Communist Party’s totalitarian regime by re-releasing a 32nd anniversary tribute, which goes to the heart of the June 4 massacre. The June 4 massacre is a responsibility that the Chinese Communist Party cannot evade in its 100th year of existence.
Shi Yixiang: “Precisely because there are still consciences like the Tiananmen Mothers inside China, there is no reason and excuse for the various anti-China movements outside China, especially in a free and democratic Taiwan, to remain silent and even gradually forget this human rights oppression that shocked the world 32 years ago.”
Shi Yixiang lamented that if the June 4 Movement had been victorious and China had started to move toward a democratic constitutional system, dissidents and social movements in China would have developed a Chinese civil society, and there would not have been the tight surveillance mentioned in George Orwell’s novel. Human rights lawyers would be able to practice the spirit of democracy and rule of law, exiled Tibetans would be able to return home from exile, Uighurs in Xinjiang would not be subjected to re-education camps that reproduce Nazi concentration camps, Hong Kong people would not be convicted of subversion of state power because of freedom of speech, and they would be able to elect their own Chief Executive, and naturally there would be no anti-Send-China movement and the Hong Kong State Security Law that is tantamount to martial law. China will not be able to influence many countries in a totalitarian way through the “Belt and Road”.
Shi Yixiang: “At this point in 2021, the resistance to China is no longer a matter for the three regions on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, but has become a distinct front for the international community. The “Tanks,” together with the Tibetan people, Hong Kong people, Xinjiang Uighurs, and Burmese people, are fighting against the centralized government that stands with the Chinese Communist regime.”
The chairman of the Tibetan Taiwan Human Rights Link, Zhaxi Tsering, said that Tibetans in exile have been able to choose their own government, but Tibetans in Tibet and Chinese in China have no chance at all. Therefore, he wants to appeal as a Tibetan to all Chinese people to come out and not forget June 4, while we Tibetans cannot forget “316”, the power of unity will reach the goal one day.
Stop commemorating June 4, totalitarian dictatorship will not stop exporting
DPP legislator Hong Shenhan pointed out that this year is the 32nd anniversary of the June Fourth Incident, and so far the Chinese Communist Party has still not admitted its mistakes, apologized, or rehabilitated the victims. The Chinese Communist Party, as in the past, arrested Chinese pro-democracy activists on the eve of June 4, just because it was afraid to raise a different voice on the day of June 4, and this year Huang Xiaomin and Wang Aizhong were arrested and even convicted, which is sad and heartbreaking.
Hong Shenhan: “This kind of human rights persecution is not only happening in China, Hong Kong has been banned from commemorating June 4 for two years in a row, in the past, commemorating June 4 is a very important tradition in Hong Kong, no matter it is the development of democracy and politics, human rights movement, but now as long as they participate in related activities and raise slogans, they will be arrested by illegal assembly. If we cannot remind each other or even further counter it, this totalitarian dictatorial output will not stop and will even affect everyone who loves it.”
The June 4 Whitewash Article Comes Out Taiwan Democracy Lab Proposes Countermeasures
Taiwan Democracy Lab researcher Chen Yun-ru mentioned their observation that every June 4, they would see a large number of whitewashing statements on the Internet, such as that tank people were not crushed to death, proving the PLA’s love for the people; or that China became the world’s factory thanks to the June 4 crackdown. “In addition to focusing on the study of information warfare, Taiwan Democracy Lab is also concerned with how China’s big outreach affects the world. Last year near June 4, we observed many whitewashing statements about June 4, and we were alerted to the damage these statements could do to democracy. Categorized as three types of non-response, denial, and rationalization, we recommend responding to whitewashing remarks through our website (https://tiananmen-trolls.doublethinklab.org).”
In addition to the Taiwan Democracy Lab, Taiwan civic groups will also set up a memorial pavilion in Taipei City’s Liberty Square at 4 p.m. on June 4, where flowers will be laid to mourn and remember the victims of the June 4 massacre and those who were suppressed. In the evening, on the “June 4 Memorial: Online Memorial” website, netizens around the world will light candles and pray for the victims of the June 4 massacre through the Internet.
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